Arkansas Uses Little-Known Law To Arm Teachers With Guns

In Arkansas, gun ownership is pretty common and gun laws are relatively relaxed. However, no teacher was allowed to be armed, until now. A little known law has resulted in Arkansas training and arming 20 teachers, administrators and other school employees for the new school year.

Schools in Clarksville are making use of a little-known law that allows licensed, armed security guards on campus.

Lake Hamilton School District in Garland County was the closet to come to getting firearms in the hands of teachers. For years it’s kept several guns locked away in case of emergency, but only a handful of trained administrators, not teachers, have had access to those weapons.

Now, Clarksville is going further by actually training and putting weapons in the hands of teachers.

Jonathon M. Seidl gives us a brief glimpse at the training as he writes:

As Cheyne Dougan rounded the corner at Clarksville High School, he saw three students on the floor moaning and crying. In a split-second, two more ran out of a nearby classroom. “He’s got a gun,” one of them shouted as Dougan approached with his pistol drawn. Inside, he found one student holding another at gunpoint. Dougan aimed and fired three rounds at the gunman. Preparing for such scenarios has become common for police after a school shooting in Connecticut last December left 20 children and six teachers dead. But Dougan is no policeman. He’s the assistant principal of this school in Arkansas, and when classes resume in August, he will walk the halls with a 9 mm handgun.

Superintendent David Hopkins said that the school district’s previous plan in the past was “Well, lock your doors, turn off your lights and hope for the best,” but he added, “That’s not a plan.” Hopkins believed in utilizing those who were already employees of the schools to guard students, rather than paying for security.

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